


Anxious

by UPlover



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Vomiting, book reports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UPlover/pseuds/UPlover
Summary: Richie doesn't want to admit how he feels about giving an oral report in front of his class. He regrets it after an embarrassing episode happens in the front of his class.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 36





	Anxious

If there was a day that Richie was dreading it was today. For their English assignment, the teacher wanted them to stand at the front of the class and present their reports orally. Chuckling at the word, it wasn’t enough to make Richie feel better or alieve any of his anxiety. Nor his churning stomach.

“Hey, Bill, I bet you’re nervous to give your report!” Richie asked. No, he couldn’t let his friends in one how he was really feeling. The question is if they would believe him or not. The only part that made the situation any better was that his friends were there to support him. Not all though. Stan had a different English class. Whoever thought it was a good idea to split up the Losers club was a nimrod!

“N-No,” Bill stuttered, though he was smiling. “I presented the project in front of a m-mirror twice last night. I think it should be fine.”

Was there a way to develop the skill to walk backward? English Class was going to begin at any second. And he was freaking out over a dumb project! He never talked in front of people before. 

“How are you feeling, Rich?” Eddie asked him.

Feeling his heart warm, Richie felt his confidence increase. Not knowing what that feeling meant, Richie just brushed it off as he always did. “It’s just a stupid oral report. At first, I thought the teacher wanted us to perform something different.”

Scoffing in disgust, Eddie went off on his own rants, hardly paying attention to Richie whose stomach plunged. Why did he scarf down two pancakes that morning? Because his mother would have worried, that’s why.

The bell rang. Time for torture.

“Class has begun. Put away any gimmicks that will disrupt today’s lesson. Is that understood, Mr. Tozier?”

An echo of laughs went around the room. Richie wondered if he looked pale. Despite this sickish feeling, he smiled his usual mischievous grin. “No ma’am, in fact, I could do this whole report with my eyes shut! It’s a piece of cake!” Ew, he didn’t even want to think about cake right now.

No, he shouldn’t have said that. The teacher smirked, adjusting her eyeglasses. “Really? Then would you do use the honors and present your report first?”

That was when Eddie turned and gave him a ‘see what you get yourself into’ look.

“Oh, sure. I would be delighted.”

One of the worst parts about sitting in front of the classroom was that the teacher had to keep an eye on him every second. At the beginning of the year, he sat in the back row. After learning about Richie’s good old sense of humor, the teacher sat him in the front row in an instant. 

Walking up to the front of the room, the three-page report in hand, Richie faced several eyes staring at him. Was this what an audience felt like? It was exciting. But, they were all staring. Judging. Yes, most of them knew him. But, they avoided him, annoyed by his jokes.

“For my report, I wrote about Charlie Chaplin.” Already Richie noticed some of his classmates with confused looks, even whispering to one another. Did they really not know who this famous actor was? Eddie knew. He introduced him to the life of Charlie Chaplin when Eddie slept over at his house one night. Richie would never forget laughing all night long with him.

“Charlie Chaplin was the ultimate comedian. He made silent movies.”

Whispering. Was that a good sign? Richie’s stomach lurched.

“Um… Chaplin likes to improvise and he also directed his own…”

No, why did he lookup? How were there twice as many eyes staring at him now? Were they doubting him? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea for a project. On no, his throat was drying up. Just continue, Rich, you can do it, man,

“I think Chaplin is a mastermind and I want… uh, want to…”

No, not here! Trying to hold back, it happened right then and there. Richie threw up right on the floor! The class was in a frenzy scrambling out of their seats and hollering in disgust. 

“Mr. Tozier, this had better be one of your foolish pranks!” The teacher warned. Her assumption quickly changed almost gagging herself. “Someone take Richie to the nurse! Everybody out of the room, now!”

“Better hold your noses!” A classmate retorted, holding his nose as he exited the room. 

“Come on, Richie!” Bill was the first to approach his friend.

“No, Mr. Denbrough, get the janitor!” The teacher ordered.

“B-B-”

“That’s alright, Bill, I’ll take him!” Eddie stepped forward.

“You’re going to take me?” To say that Richie was surprised was an understatement. Eddie hardly wanted to go near one of his friends when they were sick. Nevertheless, Eddie was the best doctor out of any of them. He was always so doting, making sure that one of them would get the proper rest. Even if that meant he was lecturing the entire time. 

“Yeah, come on, man.” Eddie led him down the hallway. It was strange how hallways felt longer. The school probably made them this way to make someone feel guiltier about their predicament. 

Now Richie felt better walking away from the scene entirely. No, that wasn’t true. He felt miserable. Throwing up in front of your classmates was the worst thing possible. He heard stories about kids having to move schools because they were teased so badly by the other kids. 

A gentle hand fell on his other shoulder “Don’t worry, Rich, everything will be okay.”

Richie didn’t realize that he was crying. His throat hurt. Not to mention the terrible aftertaste in his mouth. 

Once they got to the nurse, Richie was given a glass of water to rinse out his mouth. And then he lied down in a bed. The school nurse’s rule was that anybody who threw up had to be sent him just for precautions. Well, anything to get him out of school. But, this… this was just stupid!

Staring up at the ceiling, Richie sniffled. Hearing a creak, Richie jumped up, cleaning his face.

“Relax it’s just me,” Eddie chided him. He had Richie’s backpack with him.

Gulping down more tears, Richie nodded at him. Then he looked back down at his feet. Ashamed.

“How do you feel now?” Eddie asked him.

Richie shrugged.

“You know that’s not an answer!”

“I feel like crap, okay!” Richie hollered, a lump present in his throat. He couldn’t hold the heartbreak anymore. His life was over.

“Fuck, why did this have to happen to me?” Richie disappeared behind his arms. “Standing in front of a stupid class made me so nervous that I freakin’ puked! What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Nothing. Vomiting is normal,” Eddie explained, sitting next to him on the bed.

“Oh yeah, it’s normal for you Mr. Germaphobe?” Richie retorted to his friend.

Eddie rolled his eyes, grunting. “Are you going to be cyclical or do you want me to help you feel better?”

Taking a deep breath, Richie relaxed. His stomach felt better, but that churn wouldn’t go away. Every time he thought about standing at the front of the class it made him feel worse. “I just don’t understand what happened!”

“Were you nervous?”

“Y-Yeah,” Richie reluctantly admitted, looking away from his friend. 

“Anxiety can affect everyone in different ways, Rich. Sometimes anxiety can make people feel so nervous that they vomit.”

“I wasn’t nervous!”

Eddie raised a stern eyebrow. “Richie…”

“Okay, so I was!” Richie admitted, throwing his hands up in the air. “But it’s their fault!”

“Whose fault?”

“Didn’t you see all of them judging me?”

“Why do you think they were judging you? I think you’re just being paranoid.” Eddie told him.

“When have I ever been paranoid?”

Eddie gave him the biggest ‘be serious’ look he could ever give.

“Okay, you made your point! But, back to the point, I am never walking back into this school again!” Richie concluded thumping his fist on the bed. 

“Just over vomiting in front of the classroom?”

And for the first time, Richie didn’t have a comeback. It hurt Eddie to see Richie this way. Sure, Richie always joked around but Eddie knew that Richie had a very different way of looking at life. 

“Rich, everything will be okay. You just have to understand your anxiety and be more open about it. You can talk to us. All of us. There is no need to feel ashamed. We’re here for you. Especially me.”

Staring at Eddie with this immense weight of gratitude, that feeling inside of Richie grew again. What was it? Did Eddie always look this… adorable in dim lighting? 

“Thanks, Eds.” And Richie’s stomach finally felt better.


End file.
